


Still Alive

by Binler



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Cannibalism, Canon-Typical Violence, Dark Will Graham, Domestic Fluff, Drama, Established Relationship, Implied Sexual Content, Jack Crawford is tired, M/M, Murder, Murder Husbands, Not Beta Read, Post-Episode: s03e13 The Wrath of the Lamb, Post-Fall (Hannibal), as fluffy as two murder/cannibals can be, background Alana Bloom/Margot Verger - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-14 16:09:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29173935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Binler/pseuds/Binler
Summary: Slightly over a year ago Jack Crawford had lost his best profiler in the line of duty. Will Graham had been a hero in the end, saving the world from Hannibal Lecter and sacrificing his own life to take down the serial killer. This is the version of events that Jack believed, that he had to believe.However a distinctive double murder in France sets all of this into question, and Jack has to come to terms with that Will might not have been the noble hero in the end. Along with the implications that follow that revelation.orJack though he could put the Chesapeake Ripper behind him and move on, but the murder husbands have other plans.
Relationships: Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Comments: 6
Kudos: 150





	1. Chapter 1

Jack let out a sigh as he looked through the FBI records. He was looking for a name a witness had given as a possible suspect in the case he was working on, but as he had started to type out William Green in the internal search engine a familiar name had popped up. Will Grahams uncomfortable and stilted picture that had been on his official FBI ID now stared back at Jack from the screen. Seeing the profilers face reminded Jack that it had been over a year since the last time he had last seen Will Graham.

Just a little over a year ago Jack had arrived at a luxurious safe house that had been confirmed to have been secretly bought by Hannibal Lecter before he was apprehened. There he had found Francis Dolarhyde, the infamous dragon, long dead from a large assortment of wounds. There was no sign of Will or Hannibal at the house, but the large amounts of blood found at the scene that matched the two men revealed that they had been the ones to fight and kill the dragon. The large amount of blood evidence, combined with the fact that it could be traced all the way to the edge of and down the cliff, confirmed the fate of the two men. No one was alive to confirm what had happened after Dolarhyde had attacked the police transport and Hannibal and Will went missing. Had Dolarhyde kidnapped the two of them, or had he worked together with Hannibal and the two of them had taken Will captive? If the fight that killed Dolarhyde was a two on one or every man fighting each other. These details were impossible to know, but Jack had found that he couldn't really bring himself to care. Even as the forensic team had come up with different theories regarding the series of events Jack had found that there was only one aspect of the night that he needed to believe.

He had to believe that in the end Will had chosen the right side and taken Hannibal off the cliff with him. Maybe Will had been to hurt in the fight to live on, and as his last act alive he had ensured that Hannibal Lecter could not cause anymore harm to the world. No matter what Jack had to believe that Will had been one of the good guys after all, and sacrificed himself to save the rest of them from Hannibal. That he hadn’t misread the man so entirely in their years working together, that he hadn’t been unable to see a monster growing right under his nose.

No. Will was a hero that had sacrificed himself in the line of duty. That had to be what had happened, and Jack had to believe that.

He looked at the information accompanying Wills picture, his general info, name, date of birth, mundane stuff. And under that three more words, _Missing, presumed dead_. Surviving a fall from a cliff like that, especially after the amount of blood he had lost in the preceding fight, was as good as impossible. The only thing that kept Will as a missing person was the lack of a body, but that would only keep his status for a couple more years. Functionally Will was dead.

They had had a small memorial, a year ago by now, a gathering of the people in Wills life. There hadn’t been many present, Jack had gone with Price and Zeller, Molly had been there as well as a few of their neighbors from what Jack had to assume were the happiest three years of Wills life. He didn’t think he would ever truly stop feeling guilty about pulling Will away from that house and back into the gruesome world he had been escaping. Alana and Margo had sent their regards, but wouldn’t leave wherever they were hiding. Both still convinced Hannibal was out there, and would come after them. To be fair on their part, the memorial had been a mere month after the two men had gone missing.

Hannibal was also functionally dead, not that anyone cared much really. Some years ago Hannibal Lecter's disappearance and probable death would have shook and saddened a large number of people, Jack included. Turns out being discovered as a serial killer and cannibal greatly reduce the amount of people that feel like grieving you.

Jack hadn’t taken any note of the one-year anniversary of Dolarhydes death, and the two men disappearing. The day had come and gone like any other, as Jack didn’t like to dwell on closed cases. Especially when thinking of Will always filled him with a sense of guilt, as he silently and only to himself admitted that he should have made sure Will didn’t get to close. Like he had promised Alana what felt like a lifetime ago. But now looking at the picture of a young, nervous man Jack let himself feel the guilt for a moment and wishing for the day that presumed could be changed to confirmed and Wills memory could be left to rest.

\---

Jack felt like he should have seen it coming really, cause if there is anything he can be certain of in his life its that he can never hope to predict Hannibal Lecter, not even in assumed death.

Just one short week after Jack had stumbled upon Wills profile in the archive, and for maybe the first time taken a moment to remember, Alana sent him the article. It was a link to a French newspaper, probably the French equivalent of Tattlecrime, and whilst Jack didn’t speak French the picture that accompanied the article made it clear why she had sent it.

The picture depicted a crime scene that sent shivers down Jacks spine; just the image reeked of what Jack wouldn’t believe. There were two victims found in a church, both men, they were stripped naked and facing each other, both of them down on one knee. Both their chest were cut open and a red string came out of the gaping wounds, tying together in a neat bow between the two men. The man on the left had his hand placed in the others hair, as the man on the right had a hand resting by the hip of the other man. It was hard to make out in the picture, but it looked like fishing wire was tied from the victims to the roof above them, to maintain their poses.

Jack realized he was holding his breath as he inspected the picture so he slowly let it out. The scene was filled with a dreadful familiarity that he hadn’t seen in a crime scene in several years. But it was different, and Jack resolutely decided to ignore it. To ignore the fishing wire used, the posing of the two victims, and the word “romantiqe” in the headline. Instead of letting himself think about any of this he closed the article on his phone and called Alana.  
She answered immediately.

“I has to be them, right”, she said in lieu of a greeting, not a question, but a statement. Jack didn’t have time to find an answer, didn’t want to really, before she continued. “I mean it doesn’t make any sense, but it cant be anyone else. The presentation, the theatrics, Margo translated some of the article for me; she said the red string is tying together the victims hearts, the only organs left in their chests. It HAS to be him”, she was right he though.

Aside from it being a textbook example of how Hannibal Lecter killed Jack could feel it in his gut, a slimy sinking feeling that sent shivers up his spine and forced him to face that the peace of the last year had been nothing but a farce, Alana probably felt it too.

“I can´t believe it”, he said, “I was so sure they were both dead, that it was over”.

“We all did, even Margo and I were considering moving back at some point, that’s off the table again now”, they were both quiet for a moment, neither wanting to mention it, before Alana continued. “You saw it right, the fishing wire? It means…”, she trailed off, not willing to finish the statement.

“Will is alive”, Jack paused, having to force out the next words, “and working together with Hannibal”

They sat in it for a while, letting the weight of the fact linger in the silence. Taking a moment to accept what they had both already known, but now that the words had been said out loud they felt real and final. They had both misjudged, or maybe underestimated Will. Perhaps they had all just been desperate to accept the story where he went down as a hero.

That wasn’t a possibility anymore though, as Wills fingerprints, metaphorical of course, were all over the picture. Jack had pulled up the article on his computer and was inspecting the picture again. Will wasn’t only in the fish wire, but in that despite the men having the same injuries one of them looked like it was done with clean, medical precision, and the others wounds were deeper, rougher, more wild anger towards the target. All of this was not even touching on the posing of the bodies, or the possible implications, Jack didn’t think his mind could comprehend it if he began to dissect that.

“He is”, Alana finally said, breaking the silence, “He wasn’t the hero we wanted him to have been after all. I feel like I should be more surprised than I am, maybe I would have been before”.

Both of them would probably have been more surprised just some years ago. When Will was an incredibly talented, but reclusive, profiler that didn’t want to spend time with anyone other than his dogs. Before Hannibal had unlocked something in him, drawing out something dark and righteous from deep in his mind. They had both seen it, when Will had been playing both sides trying to catch Hannibal, later when he had followed the man to Italy and then again when working to catch the dragon. They had chosen to ignore it, brush it off as Will adapting and hardening due to the emotional toll the work did to him early on and the time he had spent in the BSHCI. Both of them had known it was a cheep excuse, but Will would say he was fine and he would catch the criminal more often than not. Additionally they had both been changing a lot at the time as well. Jack had been dealing with the illness and death of Bella, something that still plagued him now. And Alana had been adapting and embracing the dark reality she had stumbled into, she also wasn’t to keen on drawing attention to who had any moral high ground after Hannibal had his mysterious escape at the Verger estate. They had seen Will mould into Hannibals vision and accepted it.

Then after the fight with Dolarhyde, assuming Will had been on the right side in the end was easy, and a perspective they never though would be disputed. They were both silent again, neither knowing what to say, but not wanting to hang up and be alone in the revelation.

“What are you going to do?” Alana asked, again being the one to break the silence.

“I have to see what the FBI says, if they admit that it´s them. Then I can go down there and capture them myself”, the answer made itself clear as Jack said it, he was filled with rightful anger and a sense of justice that had been missing for a while. Being honest with himself he knew that no case would ever fire him up and make him work harder than the Chesapeake Ripper.

”What about you?” He knew the answer, but it felt wrong not to ask.

Alana sighed into the phone, “We are probably going to move again, I’m sorry that I can’t tell you where, but now that I know he’s out there its just…” she trailed off, “Anyways it isn’t like the Vergers are short on secret properties and safe houses so we will be fine”

She would be safe, but they both knew Jack wouldn’t be. Because they both knew that it didn’t matter if the FBI gave him permission to travel to France and investigate, he was going to do it anyways.

“Be careful Jack, I will contact you if I hear anything more”, with that she finished the call before Jack had a chance to reply.


	2. Chapter 2

Will stretched his arms out as he awoke and his hand found the bare chest of the man lying next to him. He rolled over so that he was lying partly on top of Hannibal’s chest. It was rare for Will to wake up with Hannibal still in bed so he figured he should exploit this morning to cuddle.

Hannibal was already awake, but Will vaguely remembers himself, half awake, pulling the man back into the sheets as he had tried to rise earlier. Before promptly falling back asleep himself as he felt Hannibal's weight settle back down on the bed. Hannibal was a notorious morning person and early riser, but Will knew that if he wanted to he could make the man stay in bed as long as he wished, especially after the late night they had had yesterday.

Will remembered the scene they had created together then. After a year spent recovering and patching up each other’s injuries, a year of running away and hiding. Most importantly a year of figuring out who they were and what they would be together. Will got time to reflect on not only the last fight with the dragon, but on the last several years of his life. Who Hannibal had seen in him and whom he had been refusing to see in himself. What he had desperately been trying to create in those years with Molly, he felt bad for her he really did. She had become a part of his disguise from himself, and she didn’t deserve that. He hoped she was doing well now. This last year had given Will time to decide what he wanted, going back wasn’t an option anymore, at least not if he wanted to stay out of jail. He though of leaving Hannibal as soon as he had recovered, but realized that he couldn’t. Neither of them would survive separation after all.

After that it hadn’t taken long for Will to accept his darker urges and natures. Accept that killing felt good, and especially doing bad things to bad people. It had actually been harder for him to accept Hannibal than himself. The man had directly caused what were undoubtedly the worst parts of Wills life, the encephalitis, his time in the BSHCI, and then when he had left Will bleeding out on the kitchen floor. Eventually Will had accepted that he had already forgiven Hannibal, all that time ago in the catacombs in Italy. The pain that Hannibal had caused him was mostly in the past and the man had also given Will his best moments, helping him find himself. Will knew he would never forget what Hannibal had done to him and he would never feel sorry for the things he had done in retaliation. At Hannibal's instigation they had been terrible to each other for years, but now they could move forward on equal footing. If he was going to live a life surrounded by darkness and death, he might as well keep some good company.

So last night, after they both had finally recovered enough to feel confident, they went out hunting together for the first time. More accurately they had set a long brewing hunt into its final motion. They had picked out both the men beforehand.

A local priest that had caught their attention as he sneered something about sinfulness at them when they had come to look at the architecture of the church, walking hand in hand. His death sentence had been final when upon some further research, Hannibal refused to call it stalking, they found he would seal rather large sums of money from the churches charity donations. The other man had been picked whilst they had been at a farmers market a few towns over and Will had spotted the man kicking a stray dog begging at his meat stall.

They had tracked down both the men and knocked them out without much challenge, even after a year of inactivity Hannibal was far above any normal man in physical strength and ability. Had he not been so filled with anger and adrenaline in the moment Will might have found himself swooning then. They had taken the men to a different church than where the priest worked, spreading out the web Will thought. The men were from different towns, the church was in a third, and Hannibal and Will didn’t live in any of them.

There they had done the ceremony, part of the reason they had found a priest. They made the priest say his speech and the other man acted as a witness, along with Chiyoh, who had been coming and going as she pleased for the last year. They keep their vows to a minimum, not wanting to waste time and knowing that they would have plenty of words shared between them privately afterwards. After they exchanged the simple gold rings that Hannibal had acquired from a jewelry store who's owner was not rude enough to die yet, but had been added to their new shared rolodex. Then they made everyone sign the certificate, ensuring that the two men used their real names, before Chiyoh left. She knew what they were going to do, and whilst she wouldn't stop them she preferred not to be present. 

On the surface they did this ceremony so they could not me made to attest against each other in court should one of them be caught, but they both knew the real and more personal reasons for this ceremony. 

After that it had been a blood bath. Both of the man had been drugged so they would remain calm as their chest were cut open and carved hollow, preventing the taste of stress in the meat. As Will had slashed with his knife, making a deep, rough cut down the mans chest, he could feel Hannibal staring at him. He turned around, and as he was covered in the blood of another man, he saw a rare look in Hannibal’s eyes. Someone that didn’t know Hannibal as well would say it was impossible, but Will saw adoration and something deeper there. Hannibal’s infinite love for Will was revealed in his eyes, along with a hint of fear. Not fear of the violence and bloodshed Will was causing, but fear of the fact that another person could cause Hannibal to feel so strongly and rattle his world in any meaningfull way.

As Will reminisced about last night his eyes got caught on the gold band around his finger, glinting in the sun that came through the open windows. As he looked at his hand Hannibal’s fingers wound themselves together with his, their hands fitting together and the rings making a small click sound as they bumped together.

“Are you ready to let me leave the bed now my love?” Hannibal asked, voice light and relaxed.

“Never”, Will settled his weight more fully on top of Hannibal’s chest as he answered, feeling particularly entitled to the affection today. “Its our honeymoon today”, the last words were almost unintelligible as they were spoken more into Hannibal’s chest than the room.

He felt rather than he heard the chuckle Hannibal let out, as he wrapped an arm around Will. Evidently not intending to leave the bed anytime soon either.

“That it is. And what a shame it is that I can’t take you anywhere extraordinary to commemorate the occasion my darling”, his thumb was tracing circles on Wills hand, that was still intertwined with his.

“If it were up to me I would take you all around the world and show you every wonder there is, just so you could see that none of them measure up to yourself. Not the pyramids, the colosseum or anything else mankind has ever created could even compare. Not even the most astounding aspects of mother nature herself could hold the beauty that lies here in bed with me. We would eat the finest cuisine of every nation and I would cook whatever you decided were your favorites. Let you taste and have anything you desired, I would have spoilt you beyond your wildest imaginations and given you everything you would let me.”

Will let him finish the rather dramatic declaration, having learned that it was the best way to deal with Hannibal when he was being like this. In addition to the fact that interrupting him would definitely be considered rude. Thinking back on it Will had no idea how he had survived his relationship with Hannibal, considering how often he didn’t follow the others concept of etiquette.

“Being wanted criminals does rather limit your options for luxury travel and extravagance, huh. But you know I don’t need any of that”, he lifted his head slightly to look at Hannibal instead of speaking into his chest.

“I know my love, but that does not stop me from wanting to give it to you”, Hannibal let out a mournful sigh as he answered.

Honestly, Will though, a convicted serial killer had no right to feel so remorseful and disappointed about not being able to go and an expensive honeymoon and spoil his partner. It was a stark contrast to the man Will had seen last night, bathed in blood that looked black in the moonlight. Despite that Hannibal still had that same deep adoring look in his eyes as he did then, and Will knew that he would never be able to say he preferred one side of Hannibal over the other.

“You have already given me more than I could ever ask for”, he replied, “and remember a wonderful gift is likely already on its way to deliver himself”

“Yes, I do hope good uncle Jack has seen our dinner invitation” there was a dangerous glint in Hannibal’s eye as he spoke and Will could hear the laughter in his words.

He pulled Hannibal into a deep, slow kiss; full of passion, but without desperation or urgency. Will felt as though they had all the time in the world and he was intending to keep the man in their bed until at least dinnertime.


	3. Chapter 3

Jack hadn’t been surprised when the FBI had denied his request to travel to France as part of an official investigation. The Chesapeake Ripper case was for all intents and purposes closed after all, and there was no concrete evidence that this was even the work of Hannibal. The FBI had no motive spend the manpower and money to send agents overseas. Even if they were going to send an investigation Jack knew he would not have been allowed to join it. Aside from what even he could admit was a slight obsession with the Chesapeake Ripper, he was to personally involved. Having been friends with both the men, and having the case consume large parts of his professional and personal life whilst it was active. 

So he made arrangements to move his assigned vacation days to as soon as possible and bought a plane ticket to Paris. He told Price and Zeller what he was doing so that they could sound an alarm if he didn’t return from his “vacation”, and confident that they would understand and not try to stop him. He packed light and just a week after seeing the article he was sitting on a direct flight to France.

Jack knew that he wouldn’t find them in a big city like Paris, both considering that they would avoid a place so populated and connected to the world, but also based on the location of the murder. Both men had been from separate small towns, but neither had been more than an hour and a half away from the church they had been killed in. As they had been killed in the church they would have to have been killed that night. Neither of the men had been reported missing beforehand so Jack had to assume they had been taken the same night as well. 

That was another strange detail. The Chesapeake Ripper, as Jack had known him, normally didn’t leave the bodies where he killed them. He murdered them, prepared and readied them before leaving them in the location he wanted them to be found. These two men had clearly been killed in the church however. The floors were stained with blood, and the knives used as well as the spools of fishing wire that was left over were found in the pews. Jack couldn’t figure out why they hadn’t been killed before hand like the others. Did they need the two men to be alive in the church for some reason? Or, Jack shuddered to think it, was it Will’s preference to kill them on location?

Thinking of the profiler having preferences concerning murder made a lump for in Jack's throat hand a cold shiver run through his whole body. 

Alana had sent him a translated version of the article, courtesy of Margo, as well as every other article she could find on the case,so that he had all the information available before he arrived. She had also demanded he report anything he found and daily updates that he was alive and well. If anything happened to him she would probably have a private force on the case before Price and Zeller could get any word through at the FBI.

After landing in Paris he immediately found the car rental service he had contacted in advance and got a hold of a rental car. Then he started the long drive out of the city and into the surrounding small towns. Turning on the radio to a random station playing music, to keep his focus on the road and keep his thoughts from straying to the men he was looking for. 

As he parked the car outside a grocery store down the street from the church that was still surrounded by police tape he looked around. He was filled with an absurd feeling that Will would just be standing at a street corner waiting for him, or that he would somehow be able to sense a difference in the air somehow. Of course there was nothing, no Will waiting to turn himself in and Jack hadn’t developed a sixth sense for tracking cannibals.

Making his way over to the church he saw that there was just a single cop, he couldn’t have been older than his mid 20s, standing by the tape. He walked over and flashed his FBI badge, the young officer looked unsure, but let him pass. It was unethical, but that didn’t matter in the grand scheme of possibly capturing Will and Hannibal. Jack knew he was headed towards early retirement anyways, that was if he was lucky and he found Will and Hannibal before they found him.

The church was empty, and at first glance looked like any other peaceful church. The truth was quickly revealed at a second look however, the dried bloodstains on the floor as well as the markers placed to indicate where the bodies had been placed.

There wasn’t much to see here anymore, the French police had been thorough and taken all evidence with them for lab inspection. Jack had simply figured it was as good a place to start as any, seeing as he didn’t have any other indications of where the two men where hiding.

He closed his eyes like he had seen Will do at so many crime scenes, tried to envision the crime scene like he had seen it in the picture. The picture in his mind remained two-dimensional however. He couldn’t place the scene in the room before him or envision anyone moving around the flat crime scene, much less two men he hadn’t seen in years. The real church, pictured crime scene and Hannibal and Will remained separate entities in his mind, not revealing any actions or motivations.

Frustrated at his inability to figure it out Jack turned towards one of the windows to check up on the lone officer outside. The man was no longer alone anymore however; another cop had arrived and was talking to the young cop, his back to the church.

Jack slowly made his way towards the exit, worried that this second officer would realize that he was not supposed to be here. If this were a more experienced officer than the one left to guard the church he would definitely know that the FBI had not sent any agents. Jack made up his mind to leave as quietly and quickly as possible.

As he made his way past the police tape behind the second officer he made sure that his posture and expression remained calm and confident. If the young cop that had let him in noticed him he had to seem as if he belonged. As he passed he was surprised to hear that their conversation was in English, not in French.

“Oiu, monsieur”, the young cop stammered out, “un American officer, he just arrived some minutes ago.”

The other man replied, but Jack hadn’t stopped to listen in on the conversation in fear of being caught. His car wasn’t far away, but before he got to it he threw a look over his shoulder back at the church.

For a second every drop of blood in his body turned to ice. Brown curls were peaking out from under the second officer’s hat.

Jack shook his head and rubbed his eyes, it couldn’t be that easy. And it wasn’t, the man was shaking hands with the young officer and walking away from the church.

If it had been Will he would have surely walked into the church where he believed Jack was right then and there right? And the man’s posture and walk looked nothing like Will Grahams. No, I wasn’t him. Jack was simply being paranoid; he couldn’t go around France assuming every curly haired brunet was Will.

He quickly got in the car and drove off. The feeling of paranoia still lingering he made sure to circle the same streets a couple times to make sure he wasn't followed, before he took the most intricate route the car GPS would give to the hotel. 

Once he was securely inside his hotel room with the door locked behind him he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He sent a quick message to Alana, signaling that he was alive. Then he pulled out a map and started marking of all the areas that were in a reasonable driving distance from all three towns that had been involved in the double murder. The whole time he was trying to shake the image of that officer from his mind. 

\----

Will walked in the front door with a smile on his face, throwing the hat down on a hallway table and loosening the tie of the police uniform. He paused for a moment, taking is the rich scent of mingling spices coming from the kitchen before he headed towards it.

He leaned against the doorway, content with watching Hannibal work on their dinner before he would interrupt. Hannibal’s movements were fluid and secure, this was his domain where he could show off. Hannibal always moved with confidence, but there was a different aspect to the way he moved in the kitchen. Will had seen him move in the same way at other times, in different settings, but those talents weren’t ones he could show off to the world at large. They were only for Will to see, everyone else only got a peak at Hannibal’s true elegance, and that was if they had the chance to watch him cook.

“Are you planning on entering the kitchen or do you simply intend to admire me from behind?” the smirk in Hannibal’s voice was audible.

“I haven’t decided yet”, Will joked as he stepped into the room and walked over the island where Hannibal was working. He gave Will a smile as he approached, something Will had found shockingly common in the last year. It had turned out that when you at last got under Hannibal’s person suit he was surprisingly expressive and open, not wanting to put Will back on the outside.

“How was your day dear?” Hannibal looked back down at the tomatoes he was chopping

Will smirked as he replied, “He just got here, and he was looking around the church. As if anything would be left there when he arrives this late”. He scoffed at the notion.

Hannibal let out a chuckle, “and what did you do when you saw him?”

“I did nothing, I wouldn’t want to hurt or dear friend Jack would I?” a look of feigned innocence came over Will´s features, “I just let him have enough of a look so that he would look twice”.

“My what a cunning boy you are”, Hannibal dropped the tomatoes into a pot already boiling on the stove and turned down the heat, “didn’t anyone tell you not to play with your food?”

“I don’t think you have much you should have said on that front”, Will noticed the predatory glint in Hannibal’s eyes as he came around the island towards Will.

“But my, my doctor Lecter. You never told me you had a thing for a man in uniform", Will said, seeing Hannibal's intent and looking down at the police uniform he had forgotten he was wearing.

Hannibal had reached where Will was standing by now, and was caging him against the island with a solid arm on either side of his body. Letting out a low growl and flashing his teeth quickly at Will’s use of his proper title in that teasing tone.

Their lips were a hairsbreadth apart, Will not backing down a millimetre from the man crowning him.

“Won’t the dinner burn?” it was almost a whisper, Will’s lips brushing against Hannibal’s as he spoke.

“This specific dish requires to be left on a low heat for at least two hours, allowing the meat to be tender enough that it melts on the tongue”, Hannibal replied as he easily picked up Will, placing him down on top of the island counter. “I have all the time I need”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is all i am able to think about currently, so it will probably be finished within a few days.


	4. Chapter 4

The road was narrow and winding, but even as he was focusing on the road ahead Jack felt his eyes flicker to the only car behind him. The car was unassuming, a dark grey color and a mediocre model, and it was staying just far enough behind that he would loose sight of it whenever he turned a corner. There was no reason to believe the car was tailing him, they were less than a days drive outside of Paris and there were plenty of villages around. Hell, Jack had even seen and passed other cars on this drive. His paranoia was just turned up to eleven and he was seeing things that weren’t there.

He was driving around checking out the villages within the area that Will and Hannibal were likely to be hiding in. Looking for towns with an especially good selection on luxury grocery stores or just secluded and private homes.

The problem was that he saw things in every village he went to and getting more paranoid for each visit.

In the first village he had visited he had gone to visit a farmers market where one of the victims had operated a stand. Whist trying to ask an old woman selling seafood if she had seen anyone suspicious at the market recently he saw a flash of someone in a three piece suit in his peripheral vision. Immediately turning his head and looking over the crowd however the man he though he had seen was gone. The old woman gave him a look that was both confused and concerned. Whether from his sudden frantic scanning of the crowd or the fact that she apparently didn’t speak a word of English, Jack wasn’t sure.

The village after that had been even worse. Jack had headed to the church where the other victim had served as a priest to ask around. As he had been walking up the main street towards the church he had passed by a pet supply store. He had been letting his eyes just pass over the storefront windows when he spotted a man with brown curls in a flannel buying what looked like several dog leashes. Reeling back and entering the store however the man was nowhere in sight, disappeared in thin air as if he had never excited. The 20-something cashier didn't look up to look at his sudden bursting into the store, so Jack left before he could receive another concerned look. 

The worst part was that the encounters made him think of the policeman that first day. Jack tried to remind himself that going around France being suspicious at every well dressed or dark haired person would get him nowhere. Logical thinking sadly didn’t prevent him from looking constantly over his shoulder or stop the growing feeling of being watched. He vaguely wondered if this was something akin to what Will had feet whenever he worked with the FBI, everyone watching him with a sense of unease and wondering when he would snap if he hadn't already. He quickly dismissed the thought, shaking his head. 

And now there was the car.

The perfectly average car, that he couldn’t make himself stop checking in the rear-view mirror.

He knew it had been behind him since the last village he visited. The paranoid part of his brain told him he had seen it throughout the entire day, but Jack didn’t particularly trust that part of his brain. At the same time he didn’t fully trust the part that was telling him it probably wasn’t following him at all either.

There weren’t many cars in this area, especially as Jack had deliberately picked routes on narrow, winding roads. Specifically to avid being followed and easily notice if he was. This car however was staying just far enough back that Jack would loose sight of occasionally, meaning whoever was in it would also lose sight of him. That was one strike against them tailing him, loosing sight of your target was never ideal. Still he couldn't shake the feeling. 

As he turned onto the road leading into the next small town he had marked of on the map he decided that he had to check. This town was slightly bigger than the two other villages he had been to. This allowed him to drive up and down on parallel streets and take several right turns in a row to drive in a big loop without ever leaving the town. Jack allowed himself a sigh of relief when he didn’t spot the car again after entering the town.

After almost 15 minutes of weaving up and down streets and circling different areas he felt confident and comfortable enough that the car was gone to actually park. He found a parking spot near the centre of the small town, it was in no way bustling with activity, but there were some people around.

He got out of the car and looked around. There weren’t any clues leading to this town specifically, but it was a middle point between the three villages that had been directly involved. Jack had decided to check every possible town within a reasonable distance, and if he didn’t find anything exploring the French countryside wasn’t the worst way to spend this years vacation days.

Thoughts of vacation were now far away from Jacks mind however, even with the car seemingly not having followed him the paranoid feeling had settled deep in his bones. It was unshakable as he looked around the peaceful town centre, scanning the crowd for any sliver of suspicious activity. There was nothing.

The sky was overcast and the wind made Jack shiver and pull his coat tighter around him. He started walking down the street, quickly turning down a smaller side alley.

He knew it was a hopeless quest. The odds of finding anything from just wandering around was near impossible, but it was all he had. Staying home and doing nothing wasn’t an option, this way he at least got to move around and feel like he was making progress.

He was walking aimlessly not fully paying attention to his surroundings when he had to do a double take. The car.

It was parked in a narrow dead end alley; no other cars were parked there.

Jack couldn’t stop himself as he stared walking towards it. Even as his mind was filled with the image of a mouse following the cheese into a trap, failing to see the cat hiding behind the corner.

As the image of the cat filled his mind he felt the sudden impact of a big blunt object on the back of his head. When his head hit the ground all he could see was a pair of shining, leather dress shoes. Everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This update took a bit more than a few days, sorry about that. I forgot i have real world obligations. The final chapter should be here soon, as I have a clearer vision for it. 
> 
> As always please correct any grammatical, as english isn't my first language there might be some.


	5. Chapter 5

Jack slowly opened his eyes as he woke up; the edges of his vision were blurry and unclear. His brain was simmering with a constant, low-level headache, but he felt mostly conscious and clear. He shuffled slightly in his seat, testing the restraints around both of his arms and his torso tying him to the chair. As he moved he heard the sound of a book closing.

“You’re finally awake”, he looked up to see Will Graham sitting on the opposite end of a grand dining table, putting down a book he had apparently been reading.

There was a big scar on one of his cheeks; it hadn’t healed very neatly so Will probably hadn’t gotten care in a hospital for it. It didn’t look new, but it was still stark and prominent on his face. Sill it was probably the smallest change in the man in front of him.

It wasn’t that he looked very different; in fact he looked very much like he had after he was released from his stay at the BSHCI. His hair was partly slicked back with some of the curls breaking free and falling around his face, and he was wearing a solid color dark button up. Still he was clearly not the same man. There was something in the way he held himself Jack realized. He was casually leaning against the back of his chair, as he placed the book on the table his movements were fluid and easy.

That’s when he realized what it was, Will was comfortable. This also brought the realization that Jack had never seen Will comfortable before, in all his years of knowing and working with the man.

He had to force himself to look away from Will to take in his surroundings. He and Will were facing each other, sitting at opposite ends of a grand dining table. The room itself was also pretty grand and nicely decorated, not on the level that Hannibal’s dining room had been, but also nicer than a room he could imagine Will living in.

“Don’t worry Hannibal will join us soon”, Will brought the attention back to himself by speaking, “We have been expecting you, it’s so nice that you got our invitation”.

A heavy, cold realization settles in Jacks stomach at the words. They had been playing and manipulating him this whole time. He had never accepted the story that they died after killing the dragon, and they had known it. After staying completely hidden for a year they presented a crime scene so elaborate an obvious that Jack would have to go. It had been a ploy to get him here, and even now he didn’t want to consider why they would want him here.

He wasn’t stupid. He realized that this was an execution. He had been hunting Hannibal for years and his history with Will wasn’t clean either. What he didn’t want to think about was how they would do it. The Chesapeake Ripper was notorious for mutilating the bodies before death, and Will didn’t seem like he intended to lessen Hannibal’s brutality any.

The fear that accompanied the revelation of the invitation made it so that he didn’t even register the first part of what Will had said for a few seconds.

Hannibal would be here soon.

That should probably have been the part that terrified him. But looking into Will’s eyes across the table he realized that Hannibal arriving would not put him in any more danger than he already was in. 

At Jacks silence Will continued speaking, “I’m sorry that we didn’t invite you to the actual wedding, but with circumstances such as they are we were forced to keep it a smaller ceremony.” Will gave a casual shrug before he continued, “Hannibal wanted to throw a big party, you know how he is, that show off.” The scoff he let out was more affectionate than annoyed, “Anyways we decided that you should at least be part of the celebratory dinner. We have some time to chat, how you been Jack?”

With another shudder Jack realized that this was the most Will had ever said to him that was honest and didn't sound either pained or angry. He had know that he other man was never the most fond of him, largely because of the work he had made Will do, but now there wasn’t a shred of discomfort in sight.

“Could have been better, could have been worse”, Jack answered honestly; he knew lying to Will would be both impossible and unwise. Will simply hummed, signalling for Jack to continue.

“Been doing work, trying to move on and forget”

“I have been there, eventually I realised my only option was to give in. I was never going to forget”, Will told him, “You won’t forget either Jack, but there also isn’t anything for you to give into”

Before he could think up a reply the door to the room they were in opened.

Hannibal Lecter walked in, he was pushing one of those small serving tables on wheals in front of him, with a covered dish on it. The man himself looked as Jack remembered him, more specifically he looked like he had in Italy. The suit he wore was slightly simpler than when he lived in Baltimore and the few years since Jack had seen him were visible at a closer look, he was thiner as well and his face ever so subtly more gaunt.

He smiled at Jack then, that same polite smile. And in a flash Jack was back in Baltimore, having dinner at doctor Lecters house, the friendly event a chance to smooth out his relationship with Will in the presence of someone the both of them trusted. Almost immediately he was back in reality however, and he was with two men that he could never trust again.

“Hello Jack”, Hannibal had reached the table now, and was standing at the centre between Jack and Will.

Jack couldn’t find his words, and he didn’t really want to. He had a creeping feeling that anything he said Hannibal would find either amusing or rude, neither was a reaction he wanted to provoke.

Hannibal didn’t seem to mind Jacks silence as he turned his attention to Will; he made a tsk sound as he spotted the book on the table.

“What have I said about cluttering the dining table?” he swiftly walked over, picked up the book and tucked it into a bookshelf on the wall behind Will.

“I’m sorry, but you took so long and Jack just woke up. I was bored”, Will said, but he was rolling his eyes and there was no remorse in his tone.

As he walked back to the centre of the table Hannibal placed a quick kiss in Wills curls as he walked past. And this is what made the reality of their romantic relationship truly solidify for Jack.

Not the crime scene with the two men, not even Will telling him they had a wedding. It was this simple domestic bickering and gesture that made it real, it was how he had been with Bella. He would drop a kiss in her hair as she was working, or she would complain about him leaving stuff around the house. And now he was watching Hannibal and Will do that, behaving like any other couple, despite the atrocious acts they had committed. Or maybe Jack though, it was because of those acts.

Hannibal made it back to his small serving table and addressed Jack once more, “Now Jack I am sure you remember the last time we were to have dinner together.”

He removed the lid of the covered dish and Jack saw that it had not been any food underneath, but instead a powered bone saw. He looked at Will sitting across the dining table, he did remember.

“That time we were so rudely interrupted by the will of the Vergers, but it might have been for the best that it turned out as it did”, Hannibal continued, “As I am sure you realise my priorities and intentions have changes since that time, and eating my dear Wills brain would now bring me nothing but sorrow.”

To his own surprise Jack didn’t feel the expected panic as Hannibal started his approach. Instead he resigned himself to this; somehow it felt like this was always how it was going to go. He was always going to die at the hands of the Chesapeake ripper; it seemed like the only possible way for all of this to end.

He managed to keep eye contact as Hannibal approached him. His steps were calm and confident; taking his time and enjoying the ending of his game. In his eyes Jack saw the predator that had been revealed that night in his Baltimore kitchen all those years ago. Sometimes Jack thinks he actually did die that night.

Hannibal got close and Jack closed his eyes, he knew that with just a few steps Hannibal would reach him and he would feel the cold metal of the saw on his forehead.

Then he heard the sound of glass shattering.

He opened his eyes just in time to see a bullet hit Hannibal’s hand, causing him to drop the bone saw. 

Will, who had been looking almost bored before, was suddenly alert. His head whipped to the now broken window where the bullet had come through. Then he was out of his chair and tackling Hannibal to the floor in an instant. Just as another bullet came through the broken window and hit the wall behind where Hannibal’s head had been.

Jack craned his neck to see out, but his restraints didn’t allow him to turn his body so he couldn’t get a good look out the window.

The sound of ripping fabric brought his attention back to the two men on the floor. Will had seemingly ripped of one of the sleeves of his shirt, and was currently helping Hannibal with tying it around the wounded hand. It only took a few seconds before he was done, only then did he spare a glance at Jack.

“We have to go”, Will said, as he started moving back towards where he had been sitting just a moment earlier.

Hannibal let out a wistful sigh, “It seems that this event will have to be postponed yet again”

“Hurry”, Will hissed as he glared at Hannibal

“Till we meet again Jack”, Hannibal finished, before following Will, both of them staying close to the floor.

Jack watched as they reached the bookcase where Hannibal had put the book Will had been reading. When they reached it Will braced himself against one side of the bookshelf and started pushing it to the side. As he moved the shelf Jack saw a hallway being uncovered behind it. As soon as the gap was big enough Hannibal slid behind it, turning and giving a final wink in Jacks direction before Will followed him and ushering Hannibal to get moving.

Jack, still tied to his chair, had to watch them get away again.

A few minutes later a team of what looked like private mercenaries, all wearing the Verger crest, broke down the door. They untied Jack and when it was clear that he didn’t have any major injuries he was handed a phone.

“So you found them?” Alana’s voice came through the speaker.

“No, they found me”

He heard Alana give a hum on the other end, “Figures huh, at least you are alive”

“Thanks to you it seems. How did you get a team here so fast? I can’t have been out for more than a day”, Jack was still sitting in the chair, watching the team that saved him start to poke around the hidden hallway.

“I already had a team sent to France, they arrived at the same time as you. I knew that if anything happened there wouldn’t be time to send a team then. So they have been situated in the same areas as you the whole time, when I didn’t hear from you last night they were dispatched immediately”, she explained.

“Thank you”, Jack paused before he continued, “They got away”

“But we know that they are alive now, and we know that Will...” she didn’t finish her sentence, and Jack didn’t finish it for her either.

\-----

Somewhere not that far away not that much later Hannibal and Will are sitting on a train heading towards the coast. Will is wrapping a proper bandage around the now cleaned bullet wound and Hannibal is letting his other hand run through dark curls.

When his hand is wrapped up fully he reached into his bag and pulls out the small container with homemade food. Offering a fork to Will they share the portion and click their forks together in a mock toast before they each take a bite of the meat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thats all folks. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, and as always feel free to inform me of any grammatical errors and i will fix them as soon as possible.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work in this fandom, I just finished the show and had to produce something to get it out of my system.
> 
> Also english is not my fist language so feel free to point out any grammatical errors so that i can fix them, thanks in advance.


End file.
